


Moonlighting

by vaguenotion



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Bonding, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Injured Character, Mostly talking, Post-Episode: Cassandra's Revenge, Varian whump, friendship fluff, rapunzel is a good big sister, varian is just real bummed about stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:09:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22747597
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vaguenotion/pseuds/vaguenotion
Summary: Set directly after Cassandra's Revenge.Varian can't sleep in the big, empty infirmary. Rapunzel can't sleep in her big, empty room. After what Cassandra had done, both of them have far too much on their minds. In the middle of the night, they seek solace in each other's company.(Friendship fluff for Rapunzel and Varian. Angst Lite.)
Relationships: Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 320





	Moonlighting

**Author's Note:**

> Decided to finish this up rather than let it get lost in the depths of my google drive. It's just, you know, some ennui.

The infirmary in the castle was big and, at least that night, uncharacteristically empty. Varian lay in the huge silence, staring up at the moonlight tracing across the support beams high above. The bed he was lying on was comfortable, the way that most things in the castle were comfortable, but there really wasn’t any comfortable way to sleep on bruised ribs. He took a careful breath and closed his eyes, trying to give his exhaustion what it wanted, but sleep eluded him.

There was too much on his mind. Memories of recent events burrowed into his psyche, an uncomfortable mirror of his villainous past held up for him to see. He had tried to avoid it--tried to duck out of Cassandra’s reach in Demanitus’s chamber and run to where Rapunzel and the others were gathered, but the hilt of her black stone sword had found his temple, and he’d crumpled to the ground as it rumbled with collapsing debris. 

_ An unrecognizable glint in her eye, hair glowing blue with the light of the moonstone, shoving her hand out and drawing up a wave of dull black rocks, slamming into him with enough force to press the air from his lungs, throwing him backward, dropping hard to the floor a few feet away, unable to breathe, desperation drawing him back up like puppet strings to plead with this woman he once knew-- _

Varian opened his eyes again, defeated. He’d like to think that he was stronger than this, that a stint spent in a craggy cage, held hostage by a former ally, wasn’t enough to cause him to lose sleep. And if he was being honest with himself, he hadn’t been afraid of Cassandra at first. Even as he came around with a foul taste in his mouth and a throbbing headache, he hadn’t immediately put it together that the reason he had blood on his face was because of her. 

With difficulty, he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The sterile white blanket that had been covering him slipped part way to the floor, and he bent to catch it, exhaling through tight teeth as he straightened back up. His ribs protested. 

Varian was no stranger to dealing with this sort of thing alone, after a year spent in the prison below the castle. It didn’t mean that he didn’t long for the security of his father’s presence or the comfort of Rapunzel’s sympathetic understanding, but he had some coping skills he could rely on. The best one--the one he’d been using more and more since the red rocks had drawn all his fears to the surface--was simple: 

Walking.

Varian stood up and glanced around the standing privacy screen that surrounded his bed. The only person in the large room was a nurse, lingering near a desk across the room, reading by candle light. As Varian watched, the woman stood and left the room quietly, taking her candle with her. 

Taking a breath, Varian pulled the blanket off the bed and around his shoulders before padding barefoot out of his sleeping area and across the large room. He took a cursory glance up and down the hallway outside, just in time to see the halo of the nurse’s candlelight fading around a corner to his left. 

_ Wind picking up, his huddled form sliding along the slick stone floor of the tower, the stone cage crumbling around him, an unseen force lifting him up and forcing him over the edge into a sharp plunge, hundreds upon hundreds of feet in the air to certain death below, breathlessly falling, too disoriented even to scream-- _

Varian pulled the blanket around his shoulders tighter and took another breath, mindful of his sore ribs. He turned to the right and started walking.

-

Rapunzel was the kind of girl who listened to her body. When it was hungry, she ate; when it was tired, she slept; and when she had too much nervous energy to stand being in bed a minute longer, she would get up and find something to do.

There was no shortage of things to worry about. She had her pick, a veritable smorgasbord of stressors that would all need her direct attention sooner rather than later. It was as if they were competing for her focus, all clamoring for her worry and time at once, and lying in the quiet darkness of her room wasn’t helping. 

A distraction would, though, she was sure of it. Just think about something totally fun, and easy, and unrelated to the events of the last few days! Painting a new mural, or feeding kittens, or crafting a new contraption to help her….. comb her hair! Perfect!

She sat up and looked around the blue midnight light of her room. The excitement about her new plan lasted for a few precious seconds before her shoulders dropped and she sighed, unable to feel any sincerity about the idea. In fact, contraptions of any kind just made her think of Varian, and the whole disaster with Cassandra’s tower was right back in the front of her mind. 

Rapunzel groaned and dropped back onto her pillows, boneless and defeated. If she couldn’t distract herself, then she would just have to face the things that had her all twisted up in this state in the first place. And while she couldn’t talk to Cassandra or plan for what she might do, (since Rapunzel had no  _ idea _ what Cassandra might do next) she could address another object of her panic. 

Varian was still set up in the infirmary. It was his second night there, the first spent waking him up every fifteen minutes to ensure that his head injury wouldn’t take a turn for the worst. 

_ Cassandra had really hurt him, deliberately, even if only to incapacitate him, and Rapunzel was still trying to imagine it, every attempt producing a worse and worse visual of Cassandra’s sword hilt colliding with Varian’s head. It was like picking at a scab, something she knew wouldn’t help, but she couldn’t help it, so foreign was the idea that Cassandra would do such a thing. _

But tonight, Varian was in the infirmary as a precaution. By morning, he’d probably be headed back to Old Corona with his father,  _ (where she wouldn’t be able to protect him if Cassandra came back for the cipher,) _ and so tonight was her best chance at checking in with him.

So, there: something productive that she could do to help calm her nerves. Rapunzel was out of bed in an instant, her mood buoyed by purpose. Surely, this would help put her mind at ease.

At such a late hour, the castle was quiet, but not empty. Never empty, because there was always work to be done, always staff hurrying from task to task in an endless parade meant to keep things stately and functioning. There was plenty of activity to engage in during the night, if one new where to look for it. 

Tonight, however, Rapunzel had a mission, and aside from the odd “hello” or “oh, I’m quite alright, thank you” she didn’t stop to talk to anyone. Wrapped in her nightgown and robe, she flew through the hallways on silent bare feet in the direction of her young friend.

The infirmary was empty except for Varian’s bed, cordoned off by a private screen. This was good, Rapunzel knew, and probably temporary, given how life always managed to surprise her with bad news. But as she stepped into the large room and came to a stop next to the nurse’s station, she couldn’t help but think how eerie and lonely it must be to spend the night in here, among all the vacant beds. She wondered if she should offer Varian a different room, if it would make him more comfortable.

“Your highness,” the nurse greeted, unable to cloak her surprise as she looked up from her book. “How can I help you?”

Rapunzel pulled her eyes from the far side of the room, where Varian was asleep behind the privacy curtain. “Oh, I was just… I suppose I wanted to check on Varian,” she explained. “But if he’s fast asleep, maybe I shouldn’t wake him up.”

The nurse slid a marker into her book and closed it, following Rapunzel’s line of sight to Varian’s bed. “Actually, it may not hurt to make sure his head injury is healing properly,” she offered. “I haven’t woken him up to check tonight.”

It was an offered excuse, more than anything. Rapunzel gave her a grateful smile and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “You don’t mind if I tag along?” 

“Not at all, princess,” the nurse agreed, standing and shuffling out from behind the desk. Rapunzel followed her dutifully, the clean wooden floor cold beneath her feet. She hugged her robe close and wondered what she would say to Varian once he was awake. Was this going to be a quick check-in, or a heart-to-heart? Whatever length of time would help them both feel better, she supposed.

But when the nurse pulled back the privacy screen, both women stalled for a moment. Rapunzel had been so caught up in exactly how she would explain her dead-of-night visit that she coudln’t immediately process what she was looking at.

Varian’s bed was empty. The young alchemist wasn’t there.

The nurse was staring at the sheets with a blank face, realization slowly dawning on her. She turned to face Rapunzel, panic slowly settling into her expression. “I don’t understand. He was here when I did my last round. I’ve been here all night except for…” she turned back to the bed, realization settling in. “I went to the bathroom, about twenty minutes ago. But I was only gone for a few minutes.”

Rapunzel’s stomach was starting to churn, a frosty bolt of panic creeping up her spine.  _ She took him, Lance had said, his voice alight with dawning fear. _ Could this be Cassandra, back so soon after her defeat?

“We have to find him,” Rapunzel said, her voice turning steely.

-

At some point, Varian had to stop walking. Not because he was lost, or even because he’d run out of energy, but because his ribs were aching too much to continue.

There is no comfortable way to hold one’s self with injured ribs. Lying down flattened the ribcage just enough to add pressure to the bones; lying on the uninjured side (provided there was one) squished the ribs in a different direction, more painful than before; sitting engaged the muscles that surrounded the chest, all to keep the person balanced, but that tension made them hurt as well. The best way to mitigate the pain, Varian was discovering, was to engage in an activity that took his mind off of it completely, and walking only held his focus for so long.

He found himself in the palace gardens, a beautiful collection of flora and fauna from far and wide. It was laid out in a whimsical swirl of flowerbeds, the odd fruit tree reaching up and perfuming the air. Above, the starry night sky twinkled calmly. 

Varian found a stone bench among a grove of roses and sat down, holding the blanket tight around his shoulders to stave off the night’s chill. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment, breathing through the discomfort in his chest, before listing his gaze up to the sky.

The moon was waxing, growing more and more full each night.

_ “Cass, trust me. Becoming the villain isn’t the answer-” _

_ “Is that what you think I am?!” Cassandra snapped, turned on him suddenly with a sharp anger in her eyes.  _

Even when he was at his angriest, his most bitter and resentful, Varian had had some level of self-awareness.  _ I’m the bad guy, that’s fine _ , he had insisted to himself, to Ruddigar, to the queen. He had felt justified in his actions even if he knew how they appeared to other people. Cassandra’s surprise and anger at his accusation was telling. In her eyes, the actions she was taking against Rapunzel and Corona were more than justified--they were right.

Varian dropped his eyes from the moon above and exhaled carefully. After all that had happened, how was he supposed to sleep? Someone he had looked up to and respected was out there, willing and ready to hurt others. Willing and ready to hurt  _ him. _ Is this what he’d put Rapunzel through? If he had, then maybe… Maybe he deserved these busted ribs and concussion. In an odd way, Cassandra’s betrayal was granting him enough perspective that he could never see himself betraying his friends again. Running right alongside that realization was the guilt for what he’d done, so deep and aching that it almost made his ribs feel fine by comparison.

Behind him, footsteps interrupted his spiralling thoughts. Varian jolted, and then winced at the resulting pull on his ribs. 

“Varian,” Rapunzel’s voice sounded out, a rush of relief as she approached, “Thank goodness!”

He pivoted as best as he could with his sore chest, just in time for Rapunzel’s arms to close around him in an embrace as she dropped onto the stone bench beside him.

“I went to check on you and you were gone. I thought that maybe Cass had--”

She stopped herself, leaning back from the hug while keeping both of her hands firmly on Varian’s shoulders. They looked at one another for a quiet beat, both of them eddying in the sorrow of her unfinished thought.

“Sorry,” Varian said after a moment, breaking the uncomfortable silence. “I, uh. Couldn’t sleep.”

Rapunzel’s hands dropped from his shoulders and went instead to her hair, running her fingers through it as she moved it over her shoulder and out of her way. “Yeah,” she sighed, “neither could I. I’m glad you’re okay.”

He offered her a weak smile, one that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and she returned it. Both of them sighed in unison, settling onto the bench in the quiet moonlit garden. After a pause, Rapunzel reached forward and adjusted the blanket around Varian’s shoulders, if only to ensure he was warm.

“It must be strange, being all alone in the infirmary,” Rapunzel offered quietly. “It’s such a big room.”

“Yeah. Kinda weird to be the only one in there,” he agreed awkwardly, wishing he could turtle into the blanket and hide. “I’m sorry for not telling anyone where I was going. I just needed to walk for a bit. I hope I didn’t cause you too much worry.”

Rapunzel smiled at him again, sincere and appreciative. “It’s alright, I understand. I was about to go get the cast;e guard to help look, actually, when I saw you out here.”

Varian winced, his cheeks warming with embarrassment. Before he could apologize again, Rapunzel scooted closer and draped an arm over his shoulders in a sideways hug. 

“Listen,” she said, “how about we go down to the castle kitchens and get some hot cocoa? I know a really good recipe.”

Her tone was cheerful, in a way that was somehow both sincere and forced. She was trying to ignore the elephant in the room (or garden, as the case may be) by offering a fun alternative. Varian appreciated her for it, but with the guilt swirling in his mind, he couldn't quite bring himself to go along with it. 

“Listen, princess,” he said quietly, eyes dropping to the white gravel under his feet, “I… I want you to know that I… I tried to talk to her. About what she was doing, and how it wouldn’t help, and… I really thought that I could get through to her, but Cassandra wouldn’t listen, so… What I’m saying is, I… I think if I hadn’t had pushed her, she wouldn’t have attacked me with those rocks, so it’s my fault, and I couldn’t convince her to stop, and--”

“Woah,” Rapunzel soothed, leaning forward to try and get in Varian’s line of sight. “Hold on. Cassandra hurting you is not your fault, Varian. You need to understand that.”

He turned his face away to avoid her eyes, guilt and regret and confusion all boiling together in his mind. Rapunzel, stubborn and determined as ever, set her warm palm against his cheek and guided his eyes back around to her’s. 

“Varian,” she said, and there was so much concern and sincerity in her voice that all at once, Varian felt like crying. “You tried to talk to her, and she wouldn't listen. Cassandra is responsible for her own actions. I know it hurts that she would do something like that, but it’s  _ not _ your fault.”

“I just,” he tried, floundering for a moment and then starting again when he was sure his voice wasn’t wobbling, “I know what she’s going through. I thought I could reach her.”

Rapunzel’s expression looked pained, and Varian was struck by the thought that she knew exactly what he was thinking. His own betrayal, how angry and heartbroken he had been, how desperate he’d been to strike back. And now, being powerless to help a friend who was going through the same thing.

“We’ll get through to her,” Rapunzel insisted. “I know we will. Cass isn’t gone.”

Varian took a careful, shaky breath, and tried to let her confidence convince him. He turned his eyes back up to the moon, a looming metaphor high above them, watching the exchange. Rapunzel watched him for a moment before following his gaze. 

For a few moments, neither spoke. The odd cloud passed by overhead, standing out easily against the night sky thanks to the moonlight. The soft smell of jasmine wafted in the light breeze, carried from all the flowers that surrounded them. If it weren’t for the heavy weight on their minds, it would’ve been a perfectly peaceful place to sit. 

“It’s been a really long week, huh,” Rapunzel said softly, breaking the silence between them. “But you know what I’m most worried about, right now?”

Varian glanced over at her, feeling a coil of anticipatory anxiety curl in his stomach. For a moment, she continued to gaze at the moon, before she turned her eyes to meet his. 

“You,” she said simply, and smiled when Varian blinked in surprise. “So what’s say you and I go get some hot cocoa and just take care of ourselves right now, okay?”

When the smile appeared on Varian’s face, it was as sad as it was genuine. Sniffling, he nodded, blinked back a few stubborn tears. Rapunzel stood and offered him a hand up, which he accepted. Stiffly, he rose to his feet and took a careful breath.

“That looks pretty uncomfortable,” Rapunzel offered sympathetically. 

“Yeah, well, so does walking on gravel with bare feet,” he replied, nodding to her pale toes. She chuckled.

“Oh, my feet are so calloused, it barely feels like anything.”

“Do you  _ ever _ wear shoes?”

“Well, where I first started engaging in courtly life, I had to wear them all the time. Let me tell you, it did  _ not _ go well--”

As they walked out of the garden, the conversation turned toward easier things, both relieved at the change of tone. Shining above the empty palace gardens, the moon looked on. 

After a moment, a cloud rolled in and passed in front of it, blocking it from view.


End file.
